Traditionally, users have shared digital content (e.g., a document, a digital audio file, a digital video file, a digital image file, or other digital information) with each other by hand carrying or otherwise transporting portable physical media such as floppy disks between computers. In recent years, data networks that interconnect computers allow users to send digital content to each other over the networks without having to transport physical media. For example, one user can send a file to another user as an attachment to an e-mail message.
Today, in addition to traditional methods, users share digital content by making it available for download from servers. For example, a user may upload digital content to a server. Another user may download the digital content from the server. However, once the digital content is uploaded to the web server, the sharing user may have little or no control over how the digital content is accessed at the server. For example, the sharing user may not be able not be able to prevent the public at large from downloading the digital content from the server while at the same allowing certain authorized users to download the digital content from the server.
Given the need of sharing users to place restrictions on how digital content at servers is accessed, there is a need for easy-to-use solutions for sharing digital content between users that allowing sharing users to restrict how shared digital content is accessed. The present invention fulfills this and other needs.